Tag Archives: arcana chronicles

Synopsis: Losses mount and deadly new threats converge in this next action-packed tale of the Arcana Chronicles by #1 New York Times bestselling author Kresley Cole.

When the battle is done . . .
The Emperor unleashes hell and annihilates an army, jeopardizing the future of mankind–but Circe strikes back. The epic clash between them devastates the Arcana world and nearly kills Evie, separating her from her allies.

And all hope is lost . . .
With Aric missing and no sign that Jack and Selena escaped Richter’s reach, Evie turns more and more to the darkness lurking inside her. Two Arcana emerge as game changers: one who could be her salvation, the other her worst nightmare.

Vengeance becomes everything.
To take on Richter, Evie must reunite with Death and mend their broken bond. But as she learns more about her role in the future–and her chilling past–will she become a monster like the Emperor? Or can Evie and her allies rise up from Richter’s ashes, stronger than ever before?

The Arcana Chronicles has spanned what feels like a decade. This is one of my favorite yet incredibly spaced out series. In fact, I did not see a date for this installment until the beginning of the summer and even then I did not believe until I saw it on the internet by Cole herself. For those of us who have stuck around for the past several years, these books continue to be a bit of fresh air in the YA paranormal, post-apocolyptic realm. For those who haven’t stuck it out, what the hell are you waiting for, grab the next book! Beware though, there are some spoilers ahead.

What I liked: I’m team Death/ Aric. Him and Evie are #goals in my opinion, and honestly, I’d be okay if Jack died. I’m beginning to feel like he is more of a tertiary character with little purpose; though I suspect he is somehow involved in this ever-loving cycle of the Arcana. For those of you who love death as much as I do, this is your book. There is major, major steam, and once again, I find myself surprised that a book with this much sex is being marketed to young adults. As much as I love this, I can’t recommend to any of my students (yikes). Once more, we meet new arcana friends and foes, and this installment particularly centers around the mysterious Emperor, who sounds like a douche bag. Because this book focuses so heavily on Evie and Death, we do not actually get to meet the Emperor, but the random tidbits we are privy to ain’t good. Nope. I’d be fine with another book where Evie and Death ride out the apocolypse in their little love nest, but I have a feeling that the next installment will contain more killing.

While we see a softer side of Evie with Aric, we also are treated to a taste of Evie as a badass, heartbroken, vengeful Empress. In the beginning there, I expected her to burn the world down. Kind of sad that she did not.

Also, THE ENDING! Honestly, don’t read ahead. It’s worth it.

What I didn’t like: I missed the other arcana and the sense of camaraderie we built with them over the years. At this point, we can only speculate as to who is dead and who is alive (though a lot of people are dead). I miss the intrigue and freshness brought by new arcana and their bat-shit craziness. Old lunatics get old. I also did not feel like Evie’s grandmother contributed much to this overall story. She was old, demented, and kind of a psychopath. The only real purpose she served was to leave Evie some cryptic message before she died. YAWN.

Overall, I continue to love these books and I’m grateful the next one will be out sometime this spring (apparently). 5/5

The Arcana Chronicles is one of my favorite YA series and I’ve been anxiously awaiting the next installment to come out and let’s just say Cole did not disappoint. This series has everything you could want; action, adventure, magic, and a hot/hot/hot love triangle. I started this series really wanting Evie to be with Jack, but this book really cemented my love of Aric aka Death.

Synopsis: Evie has escaped Death, kind of, and is heading back to save Jack from The Lovers. Turns out, that’s only half the battle. The true battle comes when Death and Jack force Evie to chose who she wants to spend the rest of her days.

What I liked: If I saw everything is that a good review? Probably not, so I’ll stick to just the things I adored and even then there are a lot of things that I loved. This is the third installment in the Arcana Chronicles but unlike some series there doesn’t seem to be any slowing down as this story progresses. From start to finish this book is chocked full of action and this time it focuses almost solely on Jack, Evie, and Aric. I love how Cole is able to create such an action packed story line while also creating very intense and well rounded characters. Speaking of characters, this installment focuses on the love triangle between Evie, Jack, and Aric, so naturally we have a lot of steaminess. When I first began the story I was totally devoted to Jack and Evie. Hot Cajun boy, yyellooo. But, suddenly this weird thing happened where, like Evie, I totally fell for Aric (aka Death). Cole really played with my emotions on this one. Jack vs. Aric has never been harder, but I came out on the side of Aric. He’s got that broody, tortured thing going for him and he hooked me. You’ll have to read the book to see how that whole thing turns out for Evie.

What I didn’t like: The fact that it ended. There’s a pretty big cliff-hanger at the end and I’m a little stressed out waiting for the next installment.

Overall, this was an amazing addition to an original and captivating story. 5/5